Weapons & Equip Endless Rocket 1's (Repost)

[BlakeRossTheRabbit]

Using launchers are (at least for me), very intimidating. Intimidating because you would always run out of ammo. Yes, I know that it's supposed to be the most damaging, expensive, and risky ranged subclass, but I think rockets need an endless variant. Imagine using a launcher against a boss/group of enemies, when suddenly, you run out of good rockets, without any basic ones to spare, unlike with guns or bows, through the musket pouch and quiver. And they aren't cheap. With the new happiness system, rocket 1's are cheaper, true, but getting good damage on a launcher requires special ammo, which is either: 1. Still expensive; or 2. Really hard to farm.

I was actually looking forward to this before 1.4 came out, seeing that more types of rockets were to be added in the game. But I can't say I'm disappointed, as it's still ok.

Reasons to add Endless Rocket 1 (Pouch? Idk)

• As a means to use launchers when good rockets run out, because launcher-using rangers would aim for Rocket III's/Mini Nukes/Cluster Missiles anyway, which wouldn't ruin the classic ranger drawback of having to farm/buy to get ammo.
• Most launchers have no chance not to consume ammo, and even with armor and/or buffs they can still use up a lot of rockets anyway.
• Celebration Mk II in the endgame has an insanely fast fire rate which would ruin your mini nuke supply (because it's the endgame and there's no reason to not endlessly use it, since you need to constantly fire to hit targets anyway, but this issue is not as big of a deal compared to the first launchers you obtain).
• Rocket 1's aren't that strong compared to other rockets and are like the wooden arrows or musket balls of guns and bows.
• You can still damage yourself anyway, so it doesn't take away the riskiness from launchers and probably increase the risk from using them, which is kinda fun.

And if you think it's too drastic of a buff/change in general, here are some suggestions:

• It would be craftable with a Post-Plantera crafting station, like the Autohammer instead of the Crystal Ball, to as far as the Ancient Manipulator, so it wouldn't be accessible right off the bat.
• Or purchased from the Cyborg for a really expensive price after an event is completed (like the Martian Madness), to make it harder to obtain.

I hope this can solve the problem with launchers, make them less intimidating, and more usable in general. Thank you very much.

 

[GenericUsername]

Ah, I was about to respond to your original post in the 1.4 balance changes thread. I thought this was a great idea. However, while it has its origins in some possible numerical imbalances with rocket pricing and relative difficulty in obtaining large quantities of ammo, rebalancing by proposing a new item is probably getting beyond the scope of that thread. I'm glad to see this idea is active here.

• It would be craftable with a Post-Plantera crafting station, like the Autohammer instead of the Crystal Ball, to as far as the Ancient Manipulator, so it wouldn't be accessible right off the bat.
• Or purchased from the Cyborg for a really expensive price after an event is completed (like the Martian Madness), to make it harder to obtain.

The class of rocket weapons is already locked behind Plantera, so I'm not sure if the first route would be balanced. With bullets and arrows, the player experiences all of prehardmode without an endless supply before getting access to the crystal ball, while here, the player would be able to obtain the endless supply right after their first win against Plantera.

I'm not sure if it makes sense for the cyborg to directly sell them either. After all, he makes money on keeping you dependent on him for rockets. Beyond such details and speaking vaguely in terms of progression, post-Martians or post-Golem may be a good plan.

However, I am a bit concerned that an endless rocket I item may be overpowered. While they are the current analogue to musket balls and wooden arrows in the sense of being the first obtainable and cheapest, I don't think wooden arrows vs. 'custom' arrows or musket balls vs. 'custom' bullets is quite the same, since rockets don't have the same variety in special combat properties. (Inflicting debuffs, summoning stars, bouncing, etc.) Instead, the current offerings in the rocket class are characterized by high damage (as far as ammo goes) and the ability to hit multiple targets (I include cluster rocket effects here, which are akin to explosives in this respect). Using rocket I instead of other combat rockets is certainly a considerable sacrifice to stats (damage, knockback, area of effect), but still checks the boxes for the base properties of the rocket class. I'm not sure if this is comparable to the sacrifice of special effects when using endless musket balls instead of ichor or crystal bullets, for example.

Spoiler: Possible modification

What about dud rockets? Purchased from the arms dealer (with some progression requirement, not too far beyond plantera) for 10 copper each, or something else substantially below the rocket 1 price. (Tool tip: You chose the wrong guy for working explosives..."). The main feature of these is that they would not explode. Perhaps they may have some pierce to them as well, but the projectile would otherwise be unable to damage multiple targets.

4 stacks of dud rounds at a crystal ball makes an endless supply item. I'm a bit concerned that the snowman cannon would stand to benefit from these more so than other launchers due to the strong homing. Perhaps it could be made weaker for dud rockets.

 

[BlakeRossTheRabbit]

@GenericUsername Thanks for the reply! Personally, I don't think that endless rocket 1's would be overpowered, seeing that launchers pale in comparison to other ranged weapons at the same time of progression, but I do like your idea. I really hope the devs consider this, and add an endless rocket variant, one way or another.

What about endless 'rocket 1's' having inferior stats to actual finite rocket 1's, so that they wouldn't need to add another item? It'd be less complicated of an addition, but having the same essence as your idea.